1. What are the Geological Considerations necessary in the selection of a Dam Site?

There are several geological considerations that are necessary in the selection of a dam site:

Foundation geology: The foundation rock must be strong enough to support the weight of the
dam and any loads placed on it.

Seismic activity: The site must be stable enough to withstand earthquakes and other seismic
activity.

Groundwater: The site should not be located in an area with a high water table or prone to
groundwater seepage, as this could lead to instability.

Topography: The site should have a suitable topography for the construction of the dam, with a
natural slope that allows water to be impounded effectively.

Climate: The site should have a suitable climate for the construction of the dam, with sufficient
precipitation to fill the reservoir and low evaporation rates.

Environmental impacts: The site should not have significant environmental impacts, such as
displacement of wildlife or destruction of natural habitats.

Accessibility: The site should be accessible for construction purposes, with good transportation
links and nearby sources of labor and materials.

2. Explain the importance of physical, structural geology & petrology in civil Engineering?

Civil engineering is an applied science that studies how to design, manage, maintain,
manage, and repair buildings. Almost all types of buildings are related to civil engineering,
ranging from houses, buildings, roads, bridges, reservoirs, offices, markets, airports, power
plants and many more. The scope of civil engineering is very broad, including studying
mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, geology, petrology, environment and informatics.

Physics is a pure science in the application of civil engineering related to building

structures. The building structure must consider the laws of physics. Like a building for
sanitation, a sloping floor is needed to facilitate the flow of water to the disposal. Another
example is how to make stairs that have a slope according to the building. Making roads in
hilly and flat areas by considering the speed and safety for the driver.
Structural geology is concerned with designing civil engineering buildings considering
the geological conditions of an area. Such as fault areas, folds or soil characteristics in an
area. This relates to the construction to be built, the construction must be sturdy and safe to
support a building.

Petrology is a branch of geology that studies rocks and their formation. Rocks have
different characters such as igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Civil engineers need
to understand how to handle developments faced with certain rock formations. Either use it
as a building material or as a consideration in building.

3. Define Engineering Geology? How the geological drawbacks play a major role in
construction failures?

Engineering Geology exists the application of geology to engineering studies to confirm

that the geological aspects connected to the location, design, construction, operation, and
supervision of engineering works are identified and brought into account.

The structure of large civil engineering projects needs knowledge of the geology of the
region concerned.
The geology of an area dictates the place and character of each of the following structures:
Dams, Building foundations, roads, and railways.
Define reasons for slope failure and preventive steps that can be taken.
Examine the role of a geologist in the feasibility study and site selection phases of a large
civil engineering assignment.

Construction failure
Geological structures like folds, faults, joints, etc. make the construction and design of a structure very
complex.

These geological structures make the engineering structures unstable thus rendering the structure
unsafe.

Groundwater conditions also play a vital role during the construction of any engineering project.

4. Explain some of the physical properties of rock or a mineral and why they are useful for
civil engineer?

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS

The following are the important physical properties:

i) Color
ii) Streak

iii) Lustre

iv) Structure

v) Hardness

vi) Specific gravity

vii) Cleavage

viii) Fracture

ix) Tenacity

x) Form

Color:
Color is not constant in most of the minerals and commonly the color is due to stain or
impurities in the minerals some minerals show peculiar phenomena connected with
color.

Play of colors: It is the development of a series of prismatic colors shown by some

minerals or turning about in light.

Change of colors: It is similar to play of colors that rate of change of colors on rotation is
rather slow.

Iridescene: Some minerals show rainbow colors either in their interior on the surface.
This is termed iridescence.

Streak:
The streak, which is the color of the mineral powder, is more nearly constant than the
color. The streak is determined by marking unglazed porcelain or simply by scratching it
with a knife and observing the color of the powder.

Lustre:
It is the appearance of a fresh surface of a mineral in ordinary reflected light. The
following are the important terms used to denote the lustre of

minerals. Classy or vitreous lustre - Lustre like a broken glass

Metallic lustre - When a mineral has lustre like

metal. Pearly lustre - Lustre like pearls

Structure:
This is a term used to denote the shape and form of minerals. The following are the
important terms used to denote the structures of minerals.

Columnar Structure - The mineral has a thick or thin column like Structures

Bladed Structure - The mineral has blade like structure.

Radiated structure - For columnar of fibrous diverging from central Points

Lamellar structure - The mineral made of separable

plates. Botroidal structure - For an aggregate like bunch

of grapes. Reniform structure - For kindney shaped aggregate.

Hardness:
It is the resistance of mineral offers to abrasion or scratching and is measured relative
to a standard scale of ten minerals known as Moh'scale sof hardness.

Hardness mineral : Name of the

01 Talc

02 Gypsum

03 Calcite

04 Fluorite

05 Apatite

06 Orthoclase
07 Quartz

The scale comprises ten minerals arranged to order of ascending hardness; the softest
is assigned a value of 1 and the hardest value of 10. Hardness of any mineral will lie in
between these two limits.

Specific gravity:
It may be defined as the density of the mineral compared to the density of water and as
such represents a ratio.ie specific gravity of a mineral is the ratio of its weight of an
equal

volume of water. Specific gravity of a mineral depends upon the weight and spacing of
its atoms.

Cleavage:
It is defined as the tendency of a crystallized mineral to break along certain definite
planes yielding more or less smooth surfaces. Cleavage is related to the internal
structure of a mineral. The cleavage planes area always parallel to some faces of the
crystal form typical of mineral. It is also described on the basis of perfection or the
degree of easiness with which minerals can split along the cleavage planes.

Fracture:

The fractures of a mineral may be defined as the appearance of its broken surface.
Common types of fractures are:

Conchodal fracture - The broken surfaces shows concentric rings Or curved

surface.

Even fracture - When the broken surface is smooth and flat.

Uneven fracture - When the mineral breaks with an irregular Surface. It is a

common fracture of many Minerals.

Splintery structure - When the mineral breaks with a rough.

Tenacity:
Important properties related to tenacity of the minerals are expressed by the terms like
balances, flexibility, elasticity, sectility and mellability etc. when a mineral can be cut
with a knife it is termed 'sectile'and if the slice cut out from it can be flattened under a
hammer. It is also said ella'mble''brittle'minerals. Term elastic is used if it regains it
former shape as the pressure is released.

5. Write short note on Mohr’s Scale of hardness with examples

Mohs hardness, rough measure of the resistance of a smooth surface to scratching or

abrasion, expressed in terms of a scale devised (1812) by the German mineralogist
Friedrich Mohs. The Mohs hardness of a mineral is determined by observing whether its
surface is scratched by a substance of known or defined hardness.

To give numerical values to this physical property, minerals are ranked along the Mohs
scale, which is composed of 10 minerals that have been given arbitrary hardness values.
The minerals contained in the scale are shown in the Table; also shown are other materials
that approximate the hardness of some of the minerals. As is indicated by the ranking in the
scale, if a mineral is scratched by orthoclase but not by apatite, its Mohs hardness is
between 5 and 6. In the determination procedure it is necessary to be certain that a scratch
is actually made and not just a “chalk” mark that will rub off. If the species being tested is
fine-grained, friable, or pulverulent, the test may only loosen grains without testing individual
mineral surfaces; thus, certain textures or aggregate forms may hinder or prevent a true
hardness determination. For this reason the Mohs test, while greatly facilitating the
identification of minerals in the field, is not suitable for accurately gauging the hardness of
industrial materials such as steel or ceramics.

6. Distinguish between normal fault and reverse fault. What is the role of faults in the
selection of sites for dams, reservoirs, tunnels, Quarrying, roads and railway tracks along
hill slopes?

The main difference between normal fault and reverse fault is that normal fault describes
the downward movement of one side of the fault with respect to the other side whereas
reverse fault refers to the upward movement of one side of the fault with respect to the other
side.

Normal Fault
A normal fault is a type of dip-slip fault where one side of land moves downward while
the other side stays still. The non-moving land is called the footwall. Moving wall is
called the hanging wall. Moreover, the fault surface between footwall and hanging wall
dips steeply. This steep changes from 50 to 90 degrees.
Garben and horst are two types of topographies related to a normal fault. A garben
forms when a downthrown block is created between two normal faults dipping towards
each other. A horst forms when a downthrown block is created between two normal
faults dipping away from each other. Therefore, garben and horst topographies form
due to processes that are opposite to each other.

Reverse Fault
A reverse fault is a type of dip-slip fault where one side of the land moves upwards while
the other side stays still. The non-moving land is called the footwall. Moving wall is
called the hanging wall. Therefore, it is the opposite of a normal fault. This type of faults
causes the compressive shortening of the crust. When compared to a normal fault, the
dip of this type of fault is very steep (about 45 degrees). However, this type of faults is
less common than normal faults.

the Difference Between Normal Fault and Reverse Fault

Compressional stresses can cause a reverse fault. Here, the hanging wall and the
footwall are pushed towards each other, causing a compression. In contrast, the normal
fault is caused by the tensional stresses which cause the hanging wall and footwall to
be pulled apart from each other.

7. What are various structures of sedimentary rocks? Describe any two in detail

Sedimentary structures are visible textures or arrangements of sediments within a rock.

Geologists use these structures to interpret the processes that made the rock and the
environment in which it formed. They use uniformitarianism to usually compare sedimentary
structures formed in modern environments to lithified counterparts in ancient rocks

bedding planes
.The most basic sedimentary structure is bedding planes, the planes that separate the layers
or strata in sedimentary and some volcanic rocks. Visible in exposed outcroppings, each
bedding plane indicates a change in sediment deposition conditions. This change may be
subtle. For example, if a section of underlying sediment firms up, this may be enough to
create a form or a layer that is dissimilar from the overlying sediment. Each layer is called a
bed, or stratum, the most basic unit of stratigraphy, the study of sedimentary layering.
As would be expected, bed thickness can indicate sediment deposition quantity and timing.
Technically, a bed is a bedding plane thicker than 1 cm (0.4 in) and the smallest mappable
unit. A layer thinner than 1 cm (0.4 in) is called a lamina [22]. Varves are bedding planes
created when laminae and beds are deposited in repetitive cycles, typically daily or
seasonally [23]. Varves are valuable geologic records of climatic histories, especially those
found in lakes and glacial deposits.

Graded bedding
Graded bedding refers to a sequence of increasingly coarse- or fine-grained sediment
layers. Graded bedding often develops when sediment deposition occurs in an environment
of decreasing energy. A Bouma sequence is graded bedding observed in a clastic rock
called turbidite [24]. Bouma sequence beds are formed by offshore sediment gravity flows,
which are underwater flows of sediment. These subsea density flows begin when sediment
is stirred up by an energetic process and becomes a dense slurry of mixed grains. The
sediment flow courses downward through submarine channels and canyons due to gravity
acting on the density difference between the denser slurry and less dense surrounding
seawater. As the flow reaches deeper ocean basins it slows down, loses energy, and
deposits sediment in a Bouma sequence of coarse grains first, followed by increasingly finer
grains

8. What is stratification? Explain with neat figure dip, strike and unconformity along with
their subtypes

Stratification is a process that occurs due to layering in most sedimentary rocks

and in those igneous rocks which are formed at the surface of the Earth, from lava flows
and volcanic fragmental deposits. The layers range from several millimeters to many
meters in thickness and greatly differ in shape. The strata may range from thin sheets
that cover many square kilometers to thick bodies that extend only a few meters
laterally. Stratification planes are the planes of parting or separation between individual
rock layers. They are horizontal where deposition of sediments take place as flat-lying
layers, and they exhibit inclination where the depositional site is a sloping surface. The
bottom surface of this stratum roughly conforms to irregularities of the surface
underneath.

Formation of Stratified Rocks Stratification in sedimentary rocks may result

from several changes in their texture or composition during this process of deposition. It
can also result from pauses in the deposition that allow the older deposits to undergo
certain changes before they are covered by additional sediments. A series of color
changes are also observed that are resulted from the differences in mineral
composition, or merely as layers of almost similar aspects separated by distinct parting
planes. There is no direct relationship between the thickness, extent of strata, the rate
of deposition, and the time represented. For example, a stratum of limestone which is
2.5 cm thick may take longer to form than a stratum of sandstone which is 3 m in
thickness. The most common cause of stratification is the variation in the transporting
ability of the agent which causes this deposition to take place
.
Stratification in volcanic rocks and sedimentary rocks differs in certain respects. Under
the influence of gravity, particle size, and wind, fragmental volcanic material becomes
sorted. Falling to the ground, well-sorted layers can be formed. If these sediments fall
into any lake or sea, they become layered like any other detrital matter. The process of
stratification may also result from continuous flows of liquid lava or alternations between
flows and ashfalls.

All the sedimentary deposits are not stratified. The ones which are transported by ice
only, landslide deposits, and residual soils, for instance, exhibit no stratification. Original
stratification may be destroyed by animals and plants or by disturbances after
deposition.

Cross-bedding and Graded Bedding When layering within the stratum

takes place at an angle to the main bedding plane, cross-bedding is said to take
place.Cross-bedding is also known as cross-stratification. Here, the sedimentary
structures formed are roughly horizontal units which compose of inclined layers. This
process occurs when there is deposition on the inclined surfaces of bedforms like
ripples and dunes, and it indicates that the depositional environment contains a flowing
medium (mainly wind or water). Some examples of these bedforms are ripples, sand
waves, dunes, anti-dunes, bars, and delta slopes. A graded bed is a bed that is
characterized by a systematic change in grain size from one of its sides to the other.
Graded beds represent depositional environments that decrease in transport energy
over time, but these beds can also form during rapid depositional movements. They are
best represented where the sudden strong current deposits heavy, coarse sediments
first with finer particles following them as the current weakens. They can also be formed
in terrestrial stream deposits. In reverse or inverse grading, the bed becomes coarse
upwards. This type of grading is pretty uncommon. This is also seen in Aeolian
processes.

Some Facts on Stratified Rocks

Limestone is a sedimentary rock which is mainly composed of mineral calcite, which is
in the form of calcium carbonate. Limestone often contains variable amounts of silica
along with amounts of clay, silt, and sand.

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock that is formed under oceans, lakes, and rivers. They
are composed of sand particles such as quartz or feldspar. This natural stone is pretty
tough and resistant to weathering. It is also a popular material used in building and
paving from ancient times.

Shale rocks are rocks that are made up of clay-sized particles. They can form in rivers,
basins, and oceans. They roughly cover 70% of the Earth’s surface and constitute about
55% of all sedimentary rocks.

9. Define terms bedding, outcrop, dip and strike with neat diagrams. Also explain types of
dip
Outcrop
When weathering and erosion expose part of a rock layer or formation, an outcrop appears.
An outcrop is the exposed rock, so named because the exposed rock "crops out." Outcrops
provide opportunities for field geologists to sample the local geology—photograph it, hold,
touch , climb, hammer, map, sniff, lick, chew, and carry it home. Classes often visit outcrops
to see illustrations of the principles of geology that were introduced in lecture. You often can
see geologists or students identifying rocks in roadcuts, outcrops along the road where
highway construction exposed the rocks.

Mountainous regions, where any loosened Earth material swiftly washes away, contain
some of the best outcrops because a greater percentage of the rock formation lies exposed.
Rocks crop out especially well across steep slopes, above the tree line (elevation above
which trees cannot grow), and on land scraped free of soil by bulldozer-like glaciers .
Sediment collects and plants grow in flatter areas, obscuring the rocks. In some areas soil
and sediment may completely cover all the underlying rock, such as in the southeastern
United States. However, in the desert southwest, the opposite is often the case. Outcrops
cut the cost of mapping for geologists. The greater expense of geologic mapping in an
outcrop-free area results from high-priced drilling to sample the rocks hidden below the
surface.

An outcrop consists of bedrock exposed at Earth–s surface. Geologists often seek out
outcrops to learn about the geology of an area, and geology students visit outcrops as
illustrations of the principles of geology.

Mountainous regions, where any loosened Earth material is quickly removed by erosion or
mass wasting, contain some of the best outcrops because a greater proportion of bedrock is
exposed. Rocks crop out especially well across steep slopes, above the tree line (elevation
above which trees cannot grow), and on land scraped free of soil by glaciers. Sediment
collects and plants grow in flatter areas, obscuring rocks and making outcrops rare in
lowlands except where they have been incised by streams. In some areas soil and
sediment may completely cover all the underlying rock, such as in the southeastern United
States. However, in the desert southwest, the opposite is often the case.
Bedding
The term bedding (also called stratification) ordinarily describes the layering that occurs
in sedimentary rocks and sometimes the layering found in metamorphic rock . Bedding
may occur when one distinctly different layer of sediment is deposited on an older layer,
such as sand and pebbles deposited on silt or when a layer of exposed sedimentary
rock has a new layer of sediments deposited on it. Such depositions of sediments
produce a clear division between beds called the bedding plane.

The variation among different sedimentary rock layers (usually referred to as beds or
strata) may range from subtle to very distinct depending upon color, composition,
cementation, texture, or other factors. One of the best examples may be seen in
Arizona's Grand Canyon where red, green, white, gray, and other colors heighten the
contrast between beds.

The bedding found in metamorphic rock that formed from sedimentary rock is evidence
of extreme heat and pressure and is often quite distorted. Distortions may change the
sedimentary bedding by compressing, inclining, folding, or other changes.

One of the most common types of bedding is called graded bedding. These beds
display a gradual grading from the bottom to the top of the bed with the coarsest
sediments at the bottom and the finest at the top. Graded bedding often occurs when a
swiftly moving river gradually slows, dropping its heaviest and largest sediments first
and lightest last. Changes in a river's speed may be caused by a number of factors,
including storm runoff or the entry of a river into a lake or an ocean.

Bedding is usually found in horizontal layers called parallel bedding. But bedding may
be inclined or have a swirly appearance. Inclined bedding may occur when sediments
are deposited on a slope, such as a sand dune, or when beds are tilted from their
original horizontality by forces within the earth. Bedding with a swirly appearance, called
cross bedding, may indicate that the sediments making up the rock were deposited by
strong desert winds or turbulence in a river.

The origin, composition, and interpretation of variations in bedding are one of the
geologist's most important tools in studying Earth's history. It is for this reason that
stratigraphy , the study which includes the interpretation of sedimentary and
metamorphic beds, was an essential part of even the earliest days of geologic research.
Dip is the inclination of a given feature, and is measured from the steepest angle of
descent of a tilted bed or feature relative to a horizontal plane.[5][6] True dip is always
perpendicular to the strike. It is written as a number (between 0° and 90°) indicating the
angle in degrees below horizontal. It can be accompanied with the rough direction of dip (N,
SE, etc) to avoid ambiguity. The direction can sometimes be omitted, as long as the
convention used (such as right-hand rule) is known.

A feature that is completely flat will have the same dip value over the entire surface. The dip
of a curved feature, such as an anticline or syncline, will change at different points along the
feature and be flat on any fold axis.

Strike
Strike is a representation of the orientation of a tilted feature. The strike line of a bed, fault,
or other planar feature, is a line representing the intersection of that feature with a horizontal
plane. The strike of the feature is the azimuth (compass direction) of the strike line. This can
be represented by either a quadrant compass bearing (such as N25°E), or as a single
three-digit number in terms of the angle from true north (for example, N25°E would simply
become 025 or 025°).

A feature's orientation can also be represented by its dip direction. Rather than the azimuth
of a horizontal line on the plane, the azimuth of the steepest line on the plane is used.[3]
The direction of dip can be visualized as the direction water would flow if poured onto a
plane.

explain types of dip

Guacamole
We're starting off strong with guacamole! Guacamole is made with one key ingredient
— mashed avocados — but can be seasoned with other vegetables, alliums, seasonings,
and even fruit (like mango). Some of the most common ingredients you'll find in guacamole
include cilantro, garlic, red onion, and salt. If you're eating guacamole at a tailgate party, it
will likely be served alongside crunchy tortilla chips.

For folks looking to prepare guacamole at home, we recommend adding your seasonings
and veggies after the avocado has been mashed. Moreover, the avocados will tend to
brown quickly, so adding a bit of extra lime juice to the top of the guacamole can slow the
browning process.
Hummus
Hummus is a type of bean dip originating from the Middle East. Nowadays, the dip has
transformed into a staple for crackers, pita, and vegetables. Hummus is one of the more
versatile dips on our list; it can be used on sandwiches, with falafels, or eaten as-is.

The chickpea is the cornerstone of hummus, so many eaters prefer leaving the bean alone
or adding a bit of garlic, tahini (sesame paste), and herbs. Other folks have elected for
different hummus variations to include colorful roasted beets, cooked peas, or for sweet
hummus, a bit of melted chocolate and sweetener.

You can use canned chickpeas or rehydrated dried chickpeas for your hummus at home,
and either remove the skins from the bean or leave them on.

Spinach-artichoke dip
Spinach-artichoke dip is the most popular appetizer at Olive Garden and a staple for
American tailgaters. The dish, which can be served warm or cold, is made from cooked
spinach, artichoke hearts, cream cheese, sour cream, and parmesan. Recipe developer
Hayley McLaen loves making a spinach-artichoke dip in a slow cooker because it keeps the
dip warm, tender, and perfectly smooth for pita chips, potato chips, or just bread squares.
For a lighter dish, she recommends substituting Greek yogurt for the more common
mayonnaise or sour cream.

Tzatkiki
Tzatziki is made from a few basic ingredients: yogurt and cucumber. It's the perfect recipe
for folks looking for a lighter dip with a fresh taste of garlic and dill. Chef Ina
Garten recommends using hothouse cucumbers for tzatziki because they are less watery
than other cucumber types.

Tzatziki can be served with sliced vegetables, bread, or on a gyro. For a creamier tzatziki
dip, we recommend adding pureed avocados to your blender along with whole milk yogurt,
dill, garlic, and, of course — cucumbers. The downside of using avocados in this dip is that
you have to eat the dip the same day as it's prepared or face the consequences of a
displeasing brown spread.

Baba ganoush
Hummus faces stiff competition in the race for dip supremacy from its Mediterranean
cousin: baba ganoush. Baba ganoush is made from some of the same flavorful additions as
hummus like garlic and tahini, but there is one clear difference. Baba ganoush is made from
smoked or grilled eggplant before being combined with other ingredients. The flavor of the
eggplant is much more neutral than beany hummus, so it is an ideal dip to serve with pita
chips, vegetables, or alongside cooked meats. You can make your baba ganoush more
flavorful, however, by roasting your eggplant with cumin.

Blue cheese dip

Baked buffalo wings are the perfect companion for blue cheese dip. This dip is commonly
found at bars, football games, and large events, and is made with sour cream, crumbled
blue cheese, buttermilk, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and seasoning.

The key to a perfect blue cheese dip is a lot of mild blue cheese. The cheese has an
acquired taste because of two naturally occurring (but safe to eat) molds: Penicillium
roqueforti and Penicillium glaucum. If you're looking for blue cheese with a less pungent
aroma, look for soft blue cheese. These soft cheeses are less mature, and thus have less
time for the molds to break down the amino acids that create blue cheese's distinct flavor.

10. Prepare a one page summary of:

10.1. Events from the big bang to creation of the earth relevant to formation of the earth
(Maximum of one Page).
The big bang theory is the conceptual model that scientists use to describe the origin and
subsequent evolution of the Universe. It states that the universe began as a tiny, violent
explosion about 14 billion years ago. That event produced all of the matter and energy in
the Universe, including its hydrogen and helium. Some of these light atoms were forged in
the cores of stars, over billions of years, into atoms of the heavier elements that exist today,
including the atoms of which we ourselves are made. One consequence of the big bang is
that today the Universe, which is of finite size and contains a finite amount of matter, is
expanding; in fact, the occurrence of the big bang was originally deduced from the fact of
the universe’s expansion. In recent years astronomers have made many observations that
verify predictions of the big bang theory.

Studying The Universe

People have always wondered about the origin of the Universe. Questions about how and
when Earth and the heavens formed have been pondered by tribal peoples, philosophers,
religious thinkers, and scientists. The modern, scientific study of the origin and structure of
the universe is known as cosmology.

For many centuries, cosmological thought was limited mostly to speculation. For example, it
was not obvious to the ancients that the sun and the stars are objects of the same sort. The
sun is a star much like the other stars and is only brighter because it is closer, but this fact
took centuries to determine because it is difficult to measure the distance to most of the
objects seen in the night sky. Early astronomers of the scientific era, although they knew
that the stars are also suns, assumed that all stars have the same intrinsic brightness and
thus that only their distance from Earth determines their apparent brightness. This was
incorrect; in fact, enormous variations in brightness among individual stars exist.
Examination of binary stars (paired stars that orbit each other) demonstrated these
differences. (About half of all stars in binary or other multiple systems.) When binary star
systems in which the two stars did not have the same brightness were observed, it became
clear that the amount of light received from any given star is dependent on more than just
its distance. Until the elementary task of measuring the position of astronomical objects
could be pursued systematically, larger questions about the structure and history of the
universe as a whole could not even begin to be answered.

Measurement Techniques

All measurements of the stars must be made in the neighborhood of the Earth, since any
distance achievable by a spacecraft in less than many years of travel still qualifies as “in the
neighborhood of the Earth.” The nearest star other than the sun is more than four light-
years away, and most objects seen from Earth, even with the naked eye, are much farther
off. (A light-year is the distance that light travels in one year: 5.88 trillion miles [9.46 trillion
kilometers], or about 60,000 times the distance from the Earth to the sun.)

There are two fairly direct ways to determine the distance to the nearest stars. The first is to
measure their parallax or apparent change in position during the year. As the Earth circles
the sun, stars are seen from a shifting vantage point. The furthest objects do not appear to
move because the Earth’s change in position is too small to affect our view, but the nearest
stars seem to move back and forth slightly during the course of a year. Parallax can be seen
by holding up a finger a few inches before your eyes and closing first one eye, then the
other, thus repeatedly shifting your point of view by the distance between your eyes: the
finger seems to jump back and forth dramatically, while objects across the room move much
less. The shift in the finger’s apparent position is its parallax. By measuring the parallax of a
nearby star over a six-month period (during which the Earth moves from one side of its orbit
to the other), and knowing the radius of the Earth’s orbit, it is a matter of straightforward
trigonometry to determine the distance to that star.

Another technique to determine stellar distances is to measure the proper motion of a star.
This is the apparent motion of a star with respect to other stars caused by the star’s actual
motion through the sky. (All stars are moving, including the sun.) Although the motion of
distant stars is too small to detect, closer stars can be seen changing position with respect
to more distant stars over the years.

Such techniques are only applicable to a few of the nearest stars, however, and disclose
nothing about the large-scale structure of the universe. More sophisticated methods had to
be developed for this task, requiring different astronomical observations. One such method
depends on the examination of a star’s (or other celestial object’s) spectrum, that is, the
intensity of its radiation (including, but not limited to, its visible light) at various wavelengths.
If the light from a star is divided into its component wavelengths using a prism, a continuous
spread of wavelengths punctuated by a number of dark lines can be seen. (The visible part
of our sun’s spectrum is the rainbow.) These absorption lines are caused by elements in the
star’s outer atmosphere that absorb light at specific wavelengths. Each dark line in a star’s
spectrum corresponds to a specific element; the absorption lines in a star’s spectrum thus
give a catalogue of the substances in its outer layers. Furthermore, these lines can reveal
how fast the star is approaching the Earth or receding from it using the Doppler effect, a
fundamental property of all traveling waves (including light waves). The absorption lines in
the spectra of objects moving away from the Earth are shifted to longer wavelengths, while
absorption lines in the spectra of objects moving toward the Earth are shifted to shorter
wavelengths. A shift to longer wavelengths is called a redshift because red light appears
near the long-wavelength end of the visible spectrum, while a shift to shorter wavelengths is
called a blueshift. Measurement of the Doppler shifting of spectral lines has made it
possible to map the large-scale structure of the cosmos, and it is this structure that the
theory of the big bang and the theory of general relativity explain.

Historical Background

In 1905, Danish astronomer Ejnar Hertzsprung (1873–1967) compared the width of various
stars’ absorption lines to the absolute luminosity, or brightness of the stars as determined
from proper motion measurements. Hertzsprung found that that wider lines correspond to
larger and brighter stars. This provided a way to determine the absolute brightness of a star
from its spectrum. Knowing its absolute brightness, he could then determine its distance
from Earth. This method applied to stars at any distance, as opposed to the parallax and
absolute-motion methods, which applied only to stars quite near the sun, but was limited in
accuracy.

In 1908, American astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt (1868—1921) discovered that

Cepheid variables, a type of star in which the brightness changes in a regular manner,
showing a well-defined relationship between period (time required for brightness to wax and
wane through a full cycle) and absolute luminosity. Brighter Cepheid variable stars have
longer periods while dimmer ones have shorter periods. Leavitt calculated a simple
relationship between brightness and period. This discovery had a profound effect on stellar
distance measurements. Now, any time a Cepheid could be found—in, say, a distant galaxy
— the distance to it could be determined accurately.

10.2. Geological Time Scale (GTS) highlighting events related to civil engineering practice
Geologic Time Scale

Geologic time scale (GTS) ,It used by geologist,paleontologist and Earth scientist.They are describe
the timing and relationship of event occured during Earth history.GTS is a system of chronological dating
that relates geological strate.
Dividing Earth History into Time Intervals

Geologists have divided the history of the Earth into a series of time intervals. These time intervals are
not equal to the length of the hour in a day. Instead, the length of time intervals is variable. The reason
for this is that the geological time is divided by important events in World history.

For example, the boundary between the Permian and the Triassic is marked by a global extinction where
a large percentage of the world’s plant and animal species is eliminated.

Eons
Eons is the largest geological time span and hundreds of millions of years. In the above period, you can
see that Phanerozoic Eon is the newest eon and has started more than 500 million years ago. Ions are
divided into smaller time periods known as age. In the above period, you can see that Phanerozoic is
divided into three periods: Cenozoic, Mesozoic and Paleozoic. Very important events in the history of the
world are used to determine the boundaries of the age.

Detailed geologic time scale: The United States Geological Survey has published “Divisions of Geologic
Time: Major Chronostratigraphic and Geochronologic Units.” It is a much more detailed time scale than
the simplified scale shown above.

Eras
Eons are divided into smaller time intervals known as eras. In the time scale above you can see that the
Phanerozoic is divided into three eras: Cenozoic, Mesozoic and Paleozoic. Very significant events in
Earth’s history are used to determine the boundaries of the eras.

Periods
Eras are subdivided into periods. The events that bound the periods are widespread in their extent but
are not as significant as those which bound the eras. In the time scale above you can see that the
Paleozoic is subdivided into the Permian, Pennsylvanian, Mississippian, Devonian, Silurian, Ordovician
and Cambrian periods.

Epochs
Finer subdivisions of time are possible, and the periods of the Cenozoic are frequently subdivided into
epochs. Subdivision of periods into epochs can be done only for the most recent portion of the geologic
time scale. This is because older rocks have been buried deeply, intensely deformed and severely
modified by long-term earth processes. As a result, the history contained within these rocks cannot be as
clearly interpreted

11. Prepare a summary of minerals based on their importance to the naming of the
rock
A mineral is a naturally occurring combination of specific elements that are arranged in a particular
repeating three-dimensional structure or lattice. In this case, atoms of sodium (Na: purple) alternate
with atoms of chlorine (Cl: green) in all three dimensions, and the angles between the bonds are all 90°.
Even in a tiny crystal, like the ones in your salt shaker, the lattices extend in all three directions for
thousands of repetitions. Halite always has this composition and this structure.

Note: Element symbols (e.g., Na and Cl) are used extensively in this book. In Appendix 1, you will find a
list of the symbols and names of the elements common in minerals and a copy of the periodic table.
Please use those resources if you are not familiar with the element symbols.

There are thousands of minerals, although only a few dozen are mentioned in this book. In nature,
minerals are found in rocks, and the vast majority of rocks are composed of at least a few different
minerals. A close-up view of granite, a common rock. Although a hand-sized piece of granite may have
thousands of individual mineral crystals in it, there are typically only a few different minerals, as shown
here.

A close-up view of the rock granite and some of the minerals that it typically contains (H = hornblende
(amphibole), Q = quartz and F = feldspar). The crystals range from about 0.1 to 3 mm in diameter. Most
are irregular in outline, but some are rectangular.

A close-up view of the rock granite and some of the minerals that it typically contains (H = hornblende
(amphibole), Q = quartz and F = feldspar). The crystals range from about 0.1 to 3 mm in diameter. Most
are irregular in outline, but some are rectangular.

Rocks can form in a variety of ways. Igneous rocks form from magma (molten rock) that has either
cooled slowly underground (e.g., to produce granite) or cooled quickly at the surface after a volcanic
eruption (e.g., basalt). Sedimentary rocks, such as sandstone, form when the weathered products of
other rocks accumulate at the surface and are then buried by other sediments. Metamorphic rocks form
when either igneous or sedimentary rocks are heated and squeezed to the point where some of their
minerals are unstable and new minerals form to create a different type of rock. An example is schist.

A key point to remember is the difference between a mineral and a rock. A mineral is a pure substance
with a specific composition and structure, while a rock is typically a mixture of several different minerals
(although a few types of rock may include only one type of mineral). Examples of minerals are feldspar,
quartz, mica, halite, calcite, and amphibole. Examples of rocks are granite, basalt, sandstone, limestone,
and schist.